


Reflect You Who Truly Are

by BeautifulNyx



Category: RWBY
Genre: AU, Gen, MTF Trans Character, Minor Original Character(s), No Romance, Trans Character, Trans Ren, for now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 13:10:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16933836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeautifulNyx/pseuds/BeautifulNyx
Summary: Basically RWBY but told in snippets with trans Ren. Includes a lot of Nora and Ren fluff. More characters appear later.





	Reflect You Who Truly Are

**Author's Note:**

> Just a warning... It's not beta'd and I've barely read over it. I got this idea of mtf Ren who's not out and it wouldn't get out of my head.

Ren supposed it all started around the age of 3. She had somehow found herself in her mom’s clothes. After finding an outfit that she had deemed presentable, to her child mind, she toddled out into the main area of the house. She hopped onto one of the chairs claiming herself to be the queen of Kuroyuri. That’s when her mom found her. If An was bothered by the display of feminine bravado that her “son” had performed she didn’t show it. She simply picked up little Ren and explained that ‘he’ had a lot to learn before ‘he’ became queen. That was the moment Ren had found her hatred of gender pronouns. It wasn’t hard for her mother to accept that she wanted to be queen, but An couldn’t at least use feminine pronouns. In all fairness to her mother, Ren certainly didn’t understand at that time that she wanted to be a girl.

Hair wasn’t a problem for Ren. An and Li didn’t question her aversion to getting a haircut, they just simply let it grow. The pink strip that grew in her hair made her extremely happy. It added a feminine flair that older Ren definitely appreciated, but at this moment in time younger Ren thought it looked cool. Of course the bullying that came with it added a bittersweet feeling to the strip. The bullies would taunt him with words such as the F-slur and queer. She would come home crying and lock herself in her room. She wouldn’t come out until An called her out for food. By then the tears were distant memories as Ren ate food with her parents.

It was just her and Nora… The thought hit Ren like a ton of bricks. Of course the first thing they did after the grimm had left was search for survivors, but even when they didn’t find anybody the thought still didn’t cross her mind. The decision had been made to try and find their way to Mistral. Of course being seven year-old kids they immediately set off in the wrong direction. It was at this time, in the middle of a well worn path, that Ren broke down. Nora’s face had turned to worry and she started to babble, Ren had learned early on that talking was Nora’s defense mechanism. Seeing her partner getting gradually more nervous forced the tears out of Ren’s eyes as she extended her semblance to Nora. Not only did it shield the pair from any grimm looking for a snack, it also sent a wave of serenity over Nora. Nora just sighed as she calmed down, “Sorry, I should be the one comforting you.” Ren just waved her off.

Two months had passed, Ren had been keeping count, when she remembered that it was her birthday. They were in a small village when she spotted a calendar. She made an off handed comment to Nora about it and she sprinted off with a “I’ll be back later,” thrown over her shoulder. Ren simply shrugged, used to Nora’s antics. True to her word, Nora returned with a poorly hidden present behind her back. She jumped up and down and presented a necklace to Ren with a green stone set in the center.  
“I didn’t know if you liked necklaces or not but I was able to trade some of those supplies we took from Kuroyuri for it. It’s green like you.”  
Ren wanted to be angry at her for using their supplies, but one look at Nora’s hopeful face quelled that urge. “I love it Nora.”  
Nora beamed even brighter and helped put the necklace around her neck. It was quite big but they were able to clasp it at just the right length. It hid under the collar of her once pristine clothes. It made her feel pretty.

About a year and a quarter had passed making both children nine. They had been rifling through a bakery’s trash when strong hands grabbed them both from behind and lifted them up. A large man brought them up to eye level.  
“A couple of street rats huh. You belong to Mrs. Karim.” The gruff voice growled.  
Mrs. Karim turned out to be a lady that ran the only orphanage in a surprisingly large town. They were cleaned and forced to take baths. Ren supposed it wasn’t to bad… until they forcibly cut her hair. Throughout the entire process Ren was kicking and screaming. After the ordeal, Mrs. Karim explained over Ren’s sobs that no boy should look like a girl. The crying continued through the night. For once Ren was too tired to use her semblance on herself. Nora had tried to comfort her but nothing worked. Finally Ren turned to Nora and explained her confusing feelings. She explained that even though she was born a boy, she felt like a girl. She explained in sobs that she wanted to be a girl, and that her hair made her feel like a girl. All Nora could say was a quiet “oh.” After a few moments of silence Nora piped up, “I think you still look pretty even without your hair.” They shared a hug and hatched a plan. The next night the pair snuck into the kitchen grabbed a bunch of food and snuck off leaving the hateful Mrs. Karim behind.

It was when Ren and Nora were about twelve that Ren decided they couldn’t wander forever. The next village they came to was a bustling town on the outskirts of Mistral. A kind family took pity on them and allowed them to stay with them. Ren became a blacksmith’s apprentice and Nora worked with the lady of the house and was taught to sew. It was there where they caught word of the huntsmen academies. Nora and Ren immediately began to train. The blacksmith Ren worked with gladly offered to make their weapons as long as they provided the materials and designed them. Soon early versions of Stormflower and Magnhild were in the works. It was also around the time Nora discovered her semblance. They had been caught in the rain while searching for materials and Nora thought it would be a good idea to climb a tree. Long story short, Nora literally bounced all the way back to the village telling anyone who’d listen about her semblance.  
It was on Ren’s fourteenth birthday when she looked in the mirror and realized something… her hair was longer than its original length! She woke up Nora with joy and asked the lady of the house if she could borrow the kitchen to make pancakes. With a plate of fresh pancakes in her hand she called Nora down to eat. When Nora finally came down she was hiding something behind her back. It brought back memories of the first ever gift Nora had given her.  
“Nora what do you have there.” Ren cringed at her lowering voice but forced a smile on her face.  
“I made something for you.” Nora brought a beautiful magenta dress out from behind her back. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a simple sundress but it brought tears to her eyes.  
“Mrs. Eburnean helped me make it. I also let it slip that it was for you but she’s fine with it I promise. I hope you like the color, the fabric was hard to find but it matches your eyes.” Ren cut off her rambling with a hug.  
“Nora, I love it.” She went to put it on. The dress made her do a double take in the mirror, dare she say she looked beautiful. The necklace that always hung around her neck complimented the dress nicely. She went out and showed Nora. Nora just responded by squealing and complimenting her. They enjoyed the rest of the day just eating pancakes and Ren showed off the dress to the Eburnean family and even her blacksmith mentor.  
For Nora’s birthday, Ren gave her the final version of Magnhild. On the hilt (did giant hammers even have hilts?) “女孩在一起，朋友永遠” was enscribed. The characters were from a dead language Ren had learned from Mr. Eburnean and it meant, “Girls together, friends forever.” Nora had hugged her when she told her what it meant.  
Ren had been working in the forge, trying to fix a few flaws with Stormflower, when Nora burst in. Now seventeen, Nora hadn’t gotten any taller, but she had certainly gotten stronger. The entire forge seemed to shake from her enthusiasm.  
“Ren! We got accepted! We’re going to Beacon!”  
She immediately stopped what she was doing to celebrate with Nora. A cough stopped them mid celebration. Ren turned and glance sheepishly at her mentor. He simply chuckled and gave her the day off. Ren’s mood sombered when she saw that the letter was addressed to a Mr. Lie Ren. She had forgotten that both her and Mrs. Eburnean agreed it would be safer if Ren went as a guy since she couldn’t really pass as a girl.  
Nora noticed her change in mood, “I’m sorry Ren. I promise you today that every morning that you have to pretend to be a boy, I tell you what a beautiful girl you are.” She announced with determination.  
“Nora what would I do without you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like every language, except the language they speak in the show, is a dead language. Constructive criticism is always welcome.


End file.
